“It takes only seconds,” said Ridgecrest Animal Shelter Supervisor Mary Stage, for a vehicle with its windows rolled down to become hot enough to send a family pet into shock and, at worse death. It is also illegal to leave an animal unattended in a closed vehicle in hot weather. An owner can be cited and the animal removed to a shelter.

Animals, cats and usually dogs, are routinely left in vehicles in the summer, according to the number of calls of “hot dogs” that are logged in the Ridgecrest Police Department police log. The owners of these pets may be rushing into the store for just a moment or just to make a deposit at the bankand that is more than enough time for an animal to die of heat exhaustion or stroke.

“Never, ever leave an animal alone in a vehicle,” when the weather's warm, Stage said. She said if people have errands or other business to attend to and must take their animals with them, Stage they should make different plans. Stage said she urges animal owners to find a place the pet can be cool, even if that means leaving the car running with the air conditioning on.

“Everything can wait except for that animals life,” Stage said.

On a physiological level, most animals, particularly dogs and cats, do not have sweat glands and must pant to release the heat. And, there's the obvious fact that most animals have fur coat — not a great survival tool in the Mojave Desert heat. Animals also do not have much room for error when it comes to body temperature, especially canines. Stage explained that brain damage occurs in mammals with a body temperature of 106 degrees. The delicate balance is close for humans at 98.6 degrees, but a dog's normal temperature of 101 t0 102 degrees is very close and heat stroke can occur rapidly.

In addition, animals have smaller hearts that go into overdrive when heat exhausted. The exhaustion leads to shock and possibly heat stroke. A dog or cat can go into shock in 30 seconds, Stage explained and be dead in a minute. Symptoms of a pet in shock include panting heavily, muscle tremors, lack of coordination, convulsions, vomiting and even collapse.

An animal in shock must be cooled down as fast as possible. Stage explained immersing the animal in cool water, not ice water, is an effective way to do so. She added that a cool compress applied to a furless area, like the armpits of an animal is ideal.

And a home, “is just a chamber” for heat to build and swelter without proper ventilation or air conditioning. She explained that even outside animals must have a shelter from the sun and clean water, some animal folk even have a kiddy pool.

Page 2 of 2 - Stage added that like babies, animals have no way of communicating that they're hurting and it is up to responsible adults to look out for them.

She said it is not uncommon for inside dogs to get loose and run wild looking for a cooler spot. She said this is like “getting baked from both ends” with the heat of the sun on their backs and the scorching asphalt burning their paws and pads.

And, temperatures in the Indian Wells Valley are predicted to remain well above 100 degrees for the next week.